Monday, August 3, 2009

Celebrating Spaciness with Blueberry Bread

In honor of my first post, I thought I would share a recipe modification that made me happy, but I only stumbled on it after a not-so-fine moment of mine.

On Sunday, at about 6:30 in the morning, I decided to take Lucy and Sheila, the resident wonderpups, outside to enjoy the gorgeous weather. Unfortunately, the moment the locked door shut behind me, I realized I had grabbed a different set of keys...the set that did not have house keys on them. No worries, I thought, I will hop in the car and drive to my sister's, because she lives only a mile away. Then I realized-no car keys on this ring, either (in retrospect, I think this "other" key ring may be worthless). Did I mention that Greg was out of town and not coming home until later that night? No problem, I'll call a locksmith...but wait, I forgot to grab my cell phone, too. **Commence smacking head against the door.**

Fortunately for me, my wonderful neighbor, who I had never met before, answered his door at 6:30 to a frazzled woman in yoga pants and a sweater in 80 degree weather and two crazy barking dogs. He lent me his phone and let me come in to search for a locksmith on Google. Brave man! One hour later, I was in my house.

Cue the blueberry bread! I figured a moment of neighborly heroism should be rewarded with a loaf of bread. I had fresh Michigan blueberries in the house, so I decided-let the baking and home delivery of bread begin!

I adapted the blueberry bread from a blueberry muffin recipe from my mom's wonderful friend, who I love like family. I enjoyed the muffin recipe but couldn't resist playing around with it (including making it dairy free). The bread is great, but the crumb topping makes it special. The final result is below!

Blueberry Bread

Ingredients for Bread:
1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. white sugar (I use vegan, if you can find it!)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3-1/2 cup soy milk or soy creamer
1 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen-if you use frozen, don't thaw or your batter will turn purple!)

Ingredients for Crumb Topping:
1/2 c. white sugar
1/3 c. flour
1/4 c. dairy-free butter substitute (I prefer Earth's Balance Vegan Buttery Spread)
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions (for bread):
1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray one loaf pan with non-stick spray.
2) Combine flour, sugar, and baking powder.
3) Put oil in a one-cup measuring cup. Add the egg, and then add enough soy milk or creamer until you reach the one cup line.
4) While mixing the dry ingredients, slowly pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until well combined and creamy.
5) Fold in blueberries.
6) Pour ingredients into loaf pan.

Directions (for crumb topping):
1) By hand (if you are talented, like my mom's talented friend):
Mix together sugar, flour, butter substitute (cubed), and cinnamon with a fork until well combined.
-OR-
With a food processor (if you are incapable of cutting butter into ingredients, like me):
Add sugar flour, butter substitute (no need to cube) and cinnamon; mix until combined. It will probably lump up, but you should be able to break it apart easily.
2) Add the crumbs to the top of the bread batter, covering completely.
3) Bake bread for 20 minutes at 400 degrees; then, turn down the oven to 375 and bake for another 15-20 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean).
4) Set pan on cooling rack for 10 minutes; remove loaf from pan and cool completely.

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